


End of brumation

by rip1009



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Torture, Trauma, as much love and fluff you can get from Kreese and Silver, it's not a redemption story but fuck it I love to go inside their twisted minds, the rating will change as I'll keep writing, there is also some love and fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28941633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rip1009/pseuds/rip1009
Summary: They say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. It also hardens your heart and makes you a cold bastard.Terry Silver changed the day he saw his friend shot in the head. They also say war changes all men and seeing blood and gore came with the territory. It’s all bullshit until it happens to you. From then on there is no turning back.|| we do have few Terry Silver and John Kreese stories and I came here, hell bent on changing that. So this will delve into the Vietnam war years, post Vietnam and the rise of Cobra Kai, post Fall of Cobra Kai and all the way to the present, post season three||
Relationships: John Kreese & Terry Silver, John Kreese/Terry Silver, Terry Silver & Ponytail
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Prelude before war

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and comments and loved and appreciated. They make my mind cheers and my fingers perky to type some more.

They say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. It also hardens your heart and makes you a cold bastard.

Terry Silver changed the day he saw his friend shot in the head. They also say war changes all men and seeing blood and gore came with the territory. It’s all bullshit until it happens to you. From then on there is no turning back.

He should have died not Ponytail but Justin got the bullet through his skull and Terry lived to see another day. He saw it together with the rest of POWs. He saw it through bamboo fences, he saw men forced to fight against each other over a dark pit filled with snakes. Some sort of twisted gladiator games which amused the enemy and he was next. He was next against Captain Turner. Terry knew he was going to die. He had no chance. And he deserved it. He should have done something to save Justin. He trembled and his live was flashing through his mind until John spoke. John spoke and John took his place and Terry stood and watched and couldn’t believe someone could do something like this. They say the war changes people, but John kept his noble heart and moral code.

Terry froze hearing Turner trying to win the battle ahead. Telling John Betsy had died. He knew these tricks. Whatever worked to win ground against your enemy. So much for camaraderie.

Terry stood and watched and prayed to whatever deity John would win. Against all odds. And John won and Terry had cheated death.

Terry owed his life to John and he promised himself and John he will be there for the man for life. A promise that will survive through the decades.

Terry and John and the other POWs were back in their unit. After being debriefed, after the medical checks, after the psychiatric evaluations they were throw back in Hell.

The night he was finally given the OK to resume his duties, Terry got back to the barracks and sat on his bed, pulling a photo he kept inside the book he was reading before they left for that cursed mission. Machiavelli’s The Prince. What he read rang in his mind in a whole different way after facing death and living to see another day. After losing a dear friend. He pulled the photo of the three of them. Terry, Justin and John. Smiling, carefree. As much carefree as one can be in Vietnam.

Justin always smiled that cocky smile of his. Always grinning and facing whatever challenge given with a fuck it attitude although he was calculating every choice and every detail. Always training. During the sessions with Turner, Justin and John were a perfect match. Terry excelled at logistics. Twig. That is what they called him. Twig. Barely a sliver of muscles on him. A scrawny brat who had lied to enlist because he didn’t have anything else waiting back home.

“Eat. You didn’t show up for chow” John’s scruffy voice broke though his thoughts and Terry lifted his eyes to watch closely his friend. He picked up the train and began eating. John noticed the photo of the three of them and picked it up.

“Keep it” Terry finally spoke. Terry realized he couldn’t look at that photo anymore. He couldn’t see Justin’s face. He had failed Justin, he had failed John and until he had redeemed himself, he couldn’t see that photo again “Please” he noticed his voice had changed. The kid was gone. He sounded rough, callous.

John nodded and stashed the photo inside his jacket’s pocket. Perhaps together with the photo of the late Betsy.

John was also changed. That night broke them apart and what was put together was something darker.

“John. Train with me. Harder. Show me no mercy” Terry asked, and John nodded and silently agreed.

And that is how the days blended into nights and weeks.

Terry shed his loser skin as he called it. Like a snake. Like a cobra, just like the ones in the pit, the ones which should have bit him and killed him. His muscles got leaner, his moves became more precise, his hair grew longer, and he styled it like Justin. Justin would live, through him, through them. One for all and all for all. The Cobra Unit. John would find new recruits and train them just like Turner had trained them and Terry became his partner. The mission became more dangerous and this time Terry was no longer shaking. Survive or die and he was not going to die in the hot, wet jungles of Vietnam.

Terry became more skilled in the style of karate Turner and after John had drilled on him. Terry began to love karate. Wanted to learn more. Practice makes perfect and if they had to track down the karate master who had taught Turner, so be it. Taking a permission to South Korea was not that hard. And they found what they were looking for. The Cobra Unit benefited from their skills and knowledge and Terry realized he could also use that mind of his for more. Plan around what they had learn and taught the Cobra Unit. Spread the gospel of the Cobra. It was more than karate. It was more than skills. It was more than a hobby, more than a tattoo they all got inked on their arms. The Cobra was their lives, their brotherhood, baptized in blood.

Terry became stronger, more ruthless. Time had passed. Weeks, years, decades. The Cobra Unit became Cobra Kai, a series of dojos under the gospel of what John and Terry had learned. Cobra Kai had to learn from the brumation. The lesson of humility. The lesson of patience.

All ended with a call. Terry grinned and picked up the phone and knew the time had come to end this brumation.

Sitting on the chair, behind John’s desk, Terry continued to smoke his Cuban Havana and waited for his friend. He picked up the photo John had on his desk and studied it. Twig, Justin and John. The original Cobra Unit.

“You kept it” Terry spoke, lifting his cold blue eyes to meet the perfect match of John Kreese. They might be older but that didn’t mean they were weaker. They were deadlier. Like the Cobras from the pit.

“I did. Like I said, I need your help” John hit right to the point.

“Always, John. You can always count on me” Terry replied and put the photo back on the desk. Justin was dead, Twig was dead and John was dead as well. The two of them had shed every weak skin they had and what was left was deadly.

“Our brumation has finally fucking ended. It’s time to show those assholes who they tried to mess with” Terry added. There was no more room to fail. Live or die. Terry and John will live. Live and win this war.


	2. Getting back in the game

“Copyright claims are a bitch but they bring in the cash” Terry smirked as he put his phone on the desk, the browser opened on the website Diaz had made for Cobra Kai, moving the device with his finger towards John. The old captain took a look and smirked at the screen.

“On one hand, I should thank Lawrence for kickstarting this renaissance after the ’85 fiasco. On the other hand, bless his heart, business ventures are not his strong suit. Handshake deals and overdue bills waiting to be sorted. Nothing signed, no contract. It’s a miracle he functioned until you showed up, John” Terry mused at the turn of events. Of course, he had supplied John Kreese with sufficient funds to get Cobra Kai back into their hands. Terry owned the brand. The moment Johnny Lawrence’s success began to spread through grapevine, Terry began to secure what was his and John’s brainchild aka the Cobra Kai franchise.

“I gave him the choice. Plenty of times. For now, we have his son, the future champion. Mister Lawrence and LaRusso might try to form a partnership. It’s like water and oil. Two different techniques and temperaments. It will be fun to watch as they break themselves apart” Kreese grinned although he regretted the choice Johnny had made. Three generations of Cobras that should have been united for the future championship. Still, where there was a will, there was a way. The war was still brewing, plenty of time to win.

“I can have my lawyers write a cease and desist for Lawrence and Diaz. They are no longer Cobra Kai and they have used what is ours without thinking about the fiduciary consequences. Your choice, John, on this. It does not have to go all the way towards the court rooms and have them pay the money, but it will be a start. Chip a bit on their confidence and hit where it hurts the most. The financial department” Terry offered an idea which was dancing on the top his head. He had sensed long ago John had nurtured his own brand of fatherly sentiments on Lawrence. It showed through the consequences of the latest stunt. John couldn’t bring himself to hurt Lawrence and he still hoped that through that juvie brat he could have the former champion of Cobra Kai back in the fold.

“You don’t have to decide right away, John. We have plenty to do before the tournament. Mister Lawrence has cleared the Cobra Kai name and lifted the ban put on us and I have a meeting in the morning with various members of The US Karate Federation to clear our names officially. I would like for you to come to this meeting. Your presence and your statement will weight greatly” Terry’s money and donations will weight sufficiently but this had an honor badge and Terry was dead set to clear his best friend’s name and reinstate him to his full sensei glory. John deserved to be back at the top.

“You could have done that sooner” John had begun to trim his cigar, keeping his eyes on his handiwork.

“I know. If you remember, I offered to do it immediately. You refused. If we do this, we do it together. Cobra Kai is you and me” Terry expected that snap and regretted that he didn’t go over John’s first refuse, put the money to good use and give back Cobra Kai to his brother in arms. The humiliation brought by the 1985 loss hurt Terry’s ego deeply. He wanted to break apart Barnes for not being able to do something against that kata bullshit LaRusso gave in the final round. That humiliation also took a toll on John. It made him close himself from Terry, refuse any kind of help and try to bury himself until time came for him to resurface. Terry hated that this brumation had taken so long to happen and hated himself for failing to get John to accept his help. It always came down to those moments when Terry would have to send his detectives and scan every social house until John Kreese name would show up and then make sure there was always a bed available and keep his name undisclosed so John would not refuse a roof over his head and a hot meal.

John gave one of his trademark smile smirks and began smoking letting Terry’s words linger. Humiliation, anger had broken him apart. Now there was no more room for failure. They weren’t getting any younger and this had to end.

“Of course I will come. I believe we already have a nice speech, don’t we?” John asked although he knew Terry excelled on that activity. Sure, he had a way with words but when Terry began to play the official and spin a tale, like a warlock, he had them under his spell. It was a gift. Who would have guessed that the scrawny, twig like young soldier would become this vicious force of nature. War had changed them. Loss and bloodshed shaped them and molded them. The men who had escaped that POW camp went through a change process they could not stop. In modern days, many spoke about therapy, speaking to a specialist. What could someone tell them? Fix them? The men who came back from Vietnam were treated like shit. Blamed for everything, turned into outcasts. John and Terry had escaped in a way what had happened to many of their former comrades.

“We have a genuinely nice speech, we have a team of lawyers behind us to revoke that vicious, uncalled for ban and we also have the good old fashion charity. Because we believe in giving back to the community. The lovely, cozy community that treated us so good” Terry’s words carried his particular brand of venom. A self-made man, Terry Silver knew how it was to be treated like a pariah. Just like John. Even their stories intertwined. Their fathers had been good for nothing bastards who left them and their mothers and their mothers tried to live in a world were single mothers were the new outcasts, until life became unbearable for them.

“Good. I do believe the young Cobras need to meet you. Thankfully, I got rid of the weak elements Johnny has brought here and we do have some talents. Young Robby needs a proper training not that defense shit LaRusso has been preaching and you will be surprised to know, we also have girl in the team. I want you to help me focus her rage into some lethal moves” Kreese knew Terry will be surprised by this but he had sensed a similar fire in Tory Nichols, the fire he had and Terry had. She came from nothing and fought teeth and nails.

“A brave new world, John. I embrace female warriors. If they can show me they have what it takes to win” Terry retorted as his eyes had fallen again on the photo with the three of them back in Vietnam. His eyes trailed on Justin. His fault. And he had to live with the blame and regret.

“Come. I had my chef cook us a proper dinner, unless you have other plans” Terry mustered his inner strength and conjured his layers of confidence and attitude back in place.

“Terry, for once I won’t fight you on this one. I did miss a proper steak cooked as it should be” John Kreese decide he should indulge himself for one night.

“Splendid. And I believe you won’t object for a nice ride in my fancy ass car as you called it?” Terry just had to add a comeback.

“Hopefully, you won’t drive. I still recall the way you drove last time when you were here” they began to engage in their old banter and for once, after so many years, it felt good. Just like in the good old days when they were young.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to give a name to Ponytail thus he will be also known as Justin.


End file.
